Hidden Girl:By Shyima Hall

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Shyima Hall was born in Egypt on September 29, 1989, the seventh child of desperately poor parents. When she was eight, her parents sold her into slavery to a wealthy family. She had to work for them everyday for eighteen hours while being verbally and sometimes physically abused. One example of this abuse was that she was only referred to as "stupid girl".

Life before slavery

Shyima's life at home was not much better then her life with her captors. She was the seventh child of eleven children and her parents were extremely poor. Her dad was often absent from their home and when he did show up he was abusive. He was loud and beat the children whenever he was mad. He would also often flirt with the women outside.Shyima was also sexually asuslted by her brother around the age of 6. When her older sister, who was a servant in Cairo, was fired for stealing, Shyima's parents made a deal with the employers that Shyima would take her sisters place in order to pay the debt.

These are who the Shyima and the other slaves called "The Mom" and "The Dad". "The Dad" was abusive towards Shyima. Shyima also stated that he was the one who was the most intimidating and was one of the reasons that she lost trust in Muslim men. "The Mom" was also very harsh on Shyima. She was the main abuser.

THIS IS THE OUTSIDE OF THE HOUSE AND SHYIMA WHEN SHE WAS THERE.

THIS WAS SHYIMAS ROOM IN EGYPT AT THE HOUSE WHERE SHE WAS A SLAVE. SHE DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO CLEAN HER OWN ROOM AND DIDN'T HAVE PERMISSION TO CLEAN HERSELF EITHER BECAUSE SHE WAS TO BUSY CLEANING AFTER "THE MOM" AND "THE DAD".

This was where Shyima lived in America. Her captors moved here because they were having some problems with the law in Egypt. Shyima's room was the garage with one light bulb that later burned out. There was no air conditioner but she did have a queen- sized mattress. Unlike in Egypt, she was the only slave so she had almost triple the work to do.

Life after slavery

One of Shyima's goals was to become a US citizen which she succeeded in. She now hopes to one day join the police department and eventually become a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent